206 The Management and Treatment of the Horse, 



case the breath of the horse will be extremely dis- 

 agreeable, with a running at the nostrils, and is a sure 

 indication that mortification has taken place in the 

 substance of the lungs, and that death will soon follow. 

 Inflammation of the lungs will be distinguished from 

 inflammation of the bowels by the pulse, in the latter 

 case being small and wiry, the mucous membrane of 

 the nose not being so red, and by pain in the belly, 

 which is indicated by kicking, pawing, stamping, &c • 

 This malady is brought on in most instances by the 

 numerous and sudden transitions from heat to cold, 

 and more often from cold to heat, to which most horses 

 are subjected. They are, under the careless and 

 wanton folly of masters and grooms, often galloped or 

 otherwise over-heated and permitted to cool in the 

 open air or in the draught of a stable. The stable 

 itself is often too hot, frequently from twenty to thirty 

 degrees above the atmosphere, and most stables are 

 but ill- ventilated, consequently the air is of an impure 

 kind, and being breathed over and over again, affects 

 the membrane which lines the cells of the lungs. The 

 constant irritation from ammonia, which the horse is 

 compelled to breathe in a foul, ill-ventilated stable, 

 weakens the membrane of the lungs, hence the sus- 

 ceptibility of irritation and inflammation from breath- 

 ing an atmosphere which is impregnated with 

 ammoniacal gas, generated by manure and urine. It 

 is quite evident, from the dangerous nature of this 

 complaint, that the treatment must be immediate 

 and decisive, and as the disease is rapid, so also must 

 be the treatment, as every minute is of vast importance, 



